For there to be a Sunrise
by Kumachii
Summary: AU: Hitsugaya, Toshiro transferred to Junrinan Hospital today and already he is having trouble with one of his patients. How can he keep her from running away? HitsuHina
1. Chapter 1

Hello everyone! It's been a while since I've been in the _Bleach_ fan fiction section, and wrote anything in a while. I hope my writing skills aren't too shabby.

Well, here's my new story and hopefully you'll enjoy reading it.

* * *

_The sun rose into the mooring sky, lighting every corner with its rosy light. _

"_Another day has begun…"_

"Hitsugaya-sensei, welcome to Junrinan Hospital. I look forward to working with you in near future." Ichimaru, Gin extended his hand out to shake the young prodigy's.

"That's Hitsugaya-sensei! He just transferred here today!"

"No way! That's the proclaimed prodigy?! I thought he'd looks like some cheesy bookworm, but he's so hot!" the nurses around the corner whispered to each other with taking peeks at the new doctor.

"Hey, shouldn't you be checking up on the patients?" a voice came from behind the gossiping nurses. The women turned around to see the head nurse Matsumoto, Rangiku looking strangely at them. "Please excuse us Matsumoto-san!" they scurried away, not wanting to get in trouble for slacking off.

"Ran-chan?" Gin peered over his shoulder to see his fiancée. "Hi Gin!" she smiled sweetly gave him a kiss on the cheek, as a light blush of red spread across the couple's faces.

"Rangiku, this is Hitsugaya-sensei, he just transferred here. Hitsugaya-sensei this is Matsumoto, Rangiku my fiancée and head nurse of this department." he introduced them.

"Pleased to meet you Hitsugaya-sensei." she said politely.

Suddenly a shout was heard from down the hall, "Matsumoto-san! She's gone again! The patient from room E105!"

Rangiku sighed and ran a hand through her hair slightly annoyed, "Not again. Isane, are you sure she didn't just go to the bathroom or go down the hall to make a phone call?"

Isane exclaimed, "Rangiku, I already checked! And why would she use one of the hospital's phones when she has her own cell phone and charger in her room?"

"Isane, is it Hinamori, Momo-san again?" Gin asked slightly amused by the situation as if he was used to this happening.

"It is, the girl managed to get out of her room again! Gah! What will Yamamoto-sensei say when he finds out that we let his grand daughter escape again?! We'll be fired for sure!" Isane frantically paced back and forth deep in thought of where the girl could have gone.

"Isane, calm down." Rangiku ordered her friend and subordinate.

"Aw, it's a shame she managed to get away." Gin said, "I was just about to introduce her to her new doctor, Hitsugaya-sensei, too."

--

Meanwhile, in the forest near the hospital, Momo slowed down to a walk.

"Phew, I got pasted Tanaka-san, the sercurity guard, today too. Hopefully they won't find me soon." Momo said to herself.

She walked up to the river and set her bag near to the tree stump she would use as a stool whenever she when into this particular forest.

Momo reached into her bag and putted out a worn, orange-yellow sketchbook and some pencils.

'_Now where did I leave off yesterday?'_

* * *

How was it? Short, long, boring?

I've always thought Toshiro would make a good doctor!

He certainly is smart and caring enough! xD

Well, thank you for reading and please review!

_Arigato gozaimasu! ((Thanks))_


	2. Chapter 2

Hello everyone! Finally an update for this story! My skills are still kinda rusty though….  
Here's the next chapter, please read, enjoy, and review! Thank you everyone who reviewed the last chapter!

* * *

"Isane-san, do you have any idea where she might be?" Toshiro spoke up.

Isane shook her head, "I don't know. She changes where she goes everyday so it'll be harder to find her."

"Are you asking about Momo-chan again, Isane?" asked a woman coming down the hall wearing a white doctor's coat and a stethoscope around her neck. She had piercing golden eyes; her chestnut brown hair was pulled back into a long ponytail, and appeared to be around Isane's age.

"Ikeda-sensei, do you have any idea where Momo-san is?"

She looked thoughtfully out one of the nearby windows, "It's Friday, do you think she might be in Asagiri no Mori? The haunted forest?"

"Eh? What makes you think that?" Rangiku asked a bit surprised.

"She mentioned once, that there was something important in that forest." Ikeda sensei said in a quiet voice.

"I'll go look for her." Toshiro spoke up. Everyone looked at the new doctor a bit stunned by his words, "Are you sure? We can just send out one of the other nurses."

"It's ok, I don't start officially working until tomorrow. My work here for today is done." he replied.

Toshiro turned and gave Ichimaru sensei a short bow of respect before turning to leave, "Ichimaru-sensei, thank you for showing me around today."

-

**x.x.x. For there to be a Sunrise x.x.x.**

-

"A dab of yellow there and some green there. It's finished!" Momo exclaimed cheerfully gazing happily at the picture in her sketchbook.

She closed her eyes, and took a deep breath; hopefully this would be the last time she would be in this place of sorrowful memories. She was going to leave this place once and for all, that is if no one from the hospital finds her.

Momo turned to the tree growing behind the stump, and placed a hand upon the bark feeling the engravings on it, "Okaa-san, Koma-san, I'm leaving today. You don't have to worry, I can take care of myself. I definitely won't let this disease control what I want to do."

Momo bent over to pick up the small messenger bag filled with a few changes of clothes, money, and other things she felt was important towards her escapee.

Just as she took a step away from the tree, a voice called out to her, "Hinamori, Momo, I presume?"

Momo felt a chill go up her spine, '_Gah! They found me already?! I knew I shouldn't have lingered to talk to Okaa-san and Koma-san!_' she silently thought.

'_However, I don't think I've heard this voice before. It doesn't sound like any of the staff, but he sounds so s-…gah! Hinamori, Momo what are you thinking? You're suppose to be escaping!_' Momo mentally bonked herself on the head.

She turned around to see a handsome man, who looked a few years older than her with white hair, beautiful green eyes, and in a designer brand suit. He looked out of breath from running.

'_Who is that? Is it a new staff member?'_ she wondered, '_Anyways…need to get away._'

Momo looked confused and said, "Ano, I think you're mistaken sir. I'm not the person you're looking for."

He looked at her strangely without saying a word. Momo growing uncomfortable under the stare said, "I hope you find your Hinamori-san soon, please excuse me I must get home, it's getting late. My family will be worried. Good bye sir."

She quickly darted down the path out of the forest before he could say anymore. Once out of the forest Momo quickly boarded the train at the nearest station.

'_That was so close!_' she tiredly thought.

* * *

Toshiro and Momo finally meet up, but will this be the end? xD  
Please review and thank you for read!

_-Kaori-chan_


	3. Chapter 3

Oh no, has Momo really escape from Toshiro?  
Here's the next chapter, I think this is the fastest update I've ever done.  
Thank you to everyone who review last chapter! I appreciate everyone's support!  
Please enjoy reading and review!

* * *

Hours seemed to have pasted by the time Momo got off the train. She glanced down at her watch wondering where she was going to stay, "It's only 10:07 huh? Hmm….what should I do for tonight? Maybe a hotel?"

Her mind flashed back to the person she saw in the forest, '_He seemed so worried, and tired….he must have been searching for hours…I wonder if he's ok?_'

She deposited a few coins into the soda machine, and got a can of peach juice, '_Why am I getting so worried about him anyways? He would have taken me back to that prison just like everyone else. Cold, heartless, greedy people the staff is…_'

Momo took out a sheet of paper, "Let's see, the closest hotel around here is about a few blocks away…"

"Found you!" Momo shrieked as a hand grabbed her shoulder. The owner of that hand was no other than Toshiro.

"Hinamori-san, do you think you can fool your doctor, me?" he had just missed the train she boarded on when she ran and chased her around half way across the city. To tell you the truth, Toshiro was feeling a bit pissed off, because of the long chase and her trying to deceive him. Luckily for him, he had looked over his patients' files beforehand.

'_Oh no, I have to do something or else I'll get taken back._' Scanning the area around her it was crowded with people and Momo found just who she was looking for.

"Gah! Help!" she yelled at the top of her lungs, catching the attention of the people around her, and of the security guard.

"What are you doing?" Toshiro asked a bit confused at her shout.

"Are you hurt?" he asked her, but instead received another bout of screaming.

"Help! Please help, this pervert is harassing me! Let go! I told you I won't follow you to a hotel! I'm not that kind of person! Let go you pervert! Help! Anyone please!" Momo pulled away a little, his hand was still on her shoulder, so doing so made him pull the collar of her shirt exposing her shoulder adding to the evidence.

"Can you believe him! Trying to hurt the poor girl!" a housewife whispered to her friend.  
"Get away from her you pervert!" yelled another as her husband pulled Toshiro away from Momo.

After he pulled Toshiro away, the couple began yelling at him for such a dirty action.  
"I didn't-" he tried to explain only to be cut off and scolded at some more.  
The woman yelled, "I can't believe you trying to do something like that to her. At first I thought you looked polite and mannerly, I guess it's only to make it easier for you to mislead young women."

Toshiro felt a hand on his shoulder, "Excuse me sir, this way to the police station."  
"I didn't-" he scanned the crowd for Momo only to discover that she disappeared in the midst of it all.  
'_S__o this is what she had planned! When I find that bitch she's so dead!_' he thought angrily as he was handcuffed and taken away.

Momo gave a sigh of relief when she boarded the bus around the corner from the station.

"I felt like my heart was going to stop!" she said as she rested her head against the window.

She heard a chuckle from the next to her, and turned around to see an elderly woman standing in the aisle smiling gently at her.

"You must have had quite a scare then. Do you mind if I sat next to you?" she asked.

"Please go ahead." Momo replied, thankful that it wasn't the strange stalker following her.

"You should be out here so late at night. It's quite dangerous with the crime rate going up. Ms.?" the elderly woman spoke up.

'_I can't give her my real name, just in case she knows someone from the hospital._' Momo thought as she began thinking of an alias.

"Ah, I'm Ikeuchi, Takiya, please to meet you." she answered as soon as she thought of a fake name.

"I'm Asagi, Yuu. Please to meet you Ikeuchi-san, would it be ok if I called you Takiya-san?" asked the woman.

"Please go ahead Asagi-san." Momo said.

"Takiya-san, what are you doing in the outskirts of Tokyo this late at night?" inquired Asagi, who seemed concerned over Momo's safety.

"Ah, um, I…" Momo began to answer. '_I can't tell her I'm running away!'_ she thought.

A light bulb lit up, "I moved to Hokkaido last year, and I got an invitation to a middle school class reunion last week. Seeing how it was summer vacation, I decided to go. I arrived at the airport a little while ago and I'm on my way to the hotel now."

"I see, how nice, but Takiya-san? Isn't the airport on the other side of Tokyo?" asked Asagi a bit confused.

Momo sweat dropped, "I got on the wrong bus and ended up where I am now."

"Oh I see. If it isn't any trouble maybe you could stay at my place for tonight. Usually around this late at night, thugs are hanging around hotel entrances waiting to pick up innocent girls."

'_Maybe if I stay with Asagi-san, it'll be harder to find me in a private residence than a hotel._' thought Momo.

"Thank you so much Asagi-san."

* * *

Heehee….poor Toshiro, he got mistaken for a pervert! xD  
So, how was this chapter, better? Too long? Etc. etc.  
Thank you for reading and please review!

_-Kaori-chan_


	4. Chapter 4

It seems my updates are more frequent now than when the story first began.  
Let's hope it can stay this way.  
Thank you for everyone's reviews, support, and even for taking the time to click and read.

Here's chapter 4, please read, enjoy and review!

* * *

Early the next morning, Toshiro was seated in a small café near the train station having an early breakfast, or it seemed.

The manager eyed him nervously as he dumped a heaping scoop of sugar into his coffee, and began stirring it in a rather irritated way.

"Good Morning table for three please!" exclaimed a customer who just entered the café. "This way please." the waitress guided them to the table next to Toshiro's.

Toshiro glared at the group for making such a racket so early in the morning, especially when he was in one of the worst of moods.

"Um, I think the table over there is much better." said the customer in a shaky voice, growing pale from the intensity of Toshiro's death glare.

'_Damn it, she got away again and I wasted a hell of a long time in the police station trying to convince them. Where could she be now? I only have about five hours before I need to be at the hospital. That girl probably didn't get treatment yesterday either._' Toshiro thought as he picked at the eggs on his plate.

Pretty soon his thoughts were interrupted by a ladle making contact with his head.

"Oi, doc. Don't waste the food." a woman yelled at him.

"Ow, what the hell was that for?!" he yelled at her.

"You were wasting the food! Nevermind that, did you find Momo?" she yelled back.

Some of the other customers began getting nervous and began to scoot away from the area of the café they were in.

"How do you know abou- Ikeda sensei?" he gawked at his co-worker's appearance. She was wearing a ridiculously ruffled apron, her hair was messily held back with a bandanna, and was carrying around a huge pot of red bean sweet soup and ladle.

Toshiro returned to his poker face and said, "No, she ran away last night after making me a victim of one of her incidents."

A little annoyed with her shouting and ladle whacking tricks he said, "Don't you have to be at the hospital instead of hanging out here?"

"I only work the hospital's night shifts, during the day I work here at my café. Luckily for you working here can get you a lot of information. I got a lead on Momo. Since you let her get away you should take some responsibility." she said as she drank a ladle full of sweet soup.

"What is it?" he asked.

"It's six right now so you should have about four to five hours before heading for work. One of my drinking buddies said she got on the bus stop outside the station last night, and got off the bus with an old woman at the stop on Ume and Koori street." Ikeda told him.

Toshiro got up and paid for his breakfast, "Thank you Ikeda-san."

"No need for thanks, if you don't find Momo soon she'll be even harder to find later."

**-**

**For There to be a Sunrise**

**-**

Momo cracked an eye open, to see the blurry morning ceiling of the room Asagi-san lend to her. She lifted a hand to block the sunny rays from her eyes and rub them a bit to get the sand out.

'_That's right. I'm staying at Asagi-san's place. Asagi-san is so nice; we stayed up really late till morning talking. She reminds me a bit of Okaa-san and my own grandmother. I wonder how today will turn out?_' she questioned herself.

There was a gentle knock on the door.

"Come in!" Momo called.

The door opened and Asagi-san stepped into the room, "Good morning Takiya-san. Did you sleep well?"

Momo smiled cheerfully, "Yup. Thank you so much for letting me stay here!"

Asagi's eyes held a hint of surprise but that was quickly replaced by eyes shining with happiness, "No need to thank me dear. It was just this selfish woman trying to protect the young ones. Breakfast is ready, if you don't mine dining with this old woman."

Momo laughed, "Of course not Asagi-san! I should be grateful you took me in."

"Yuu."

"Huh?" Momo said in a bit of confusion.

"Please call me, Yuu baa-san. Asagi-san makes me seem like a fossil, don't you think." she smiled.

"Hai, Yuu baa-san!" Momo replied.

"You're probably wondering what's for breakfast aren't you? Today is Yuu baa-san's secret pancake recipe!" declared Yuu.

Momo giggled, "I wonder if Yuu baa-san's pancake recipe will be safe to eat."

Yuu pretended to be a bit offended by Momo's comment, "Are you making fun of the great Yuu-sama's pancakes? No breakfast for you.'

"Oh no, please forgive me Yuu-sama! I meant to say that your cooking skills are superb and no one in the entire city of Tokyo can surpass you!"

Yuu laughed, "Ok, enough of that, now let's go eat the pancakes before Shiro the puppy gets to them before us."

'_Her smiles seem a bit sad, Yuu baa-san's. I wonder if she's thinking about her daughter that ran away from home sixteen years ago. It must have hurt a lot to have your only child hate you to the point they felt the need to break free._' Momo thought as she followed her down the stairs.

"Arf, arf!" a little white puppy pounced at Momo's feet as she came down the stairs.

"Aw, good morning Shiro!" Momo said as she scooped up the puppy.

The puppy snuggled against her neck.

"Shiro seems to have taken a liking to you hasn't he?" Yuu beamed at the two.

'_Shiro is so cute! The man from last night had white hair too. I would love to see the expression he makes if I called him Shiro-chan._" she thought to herself secretly laughing at the possible expressions.

'_Why am I thinking about him again?!'_

She put Shiro down, '_It's ok though. I'll probably never see him again anyways if he's given up like the rest of the staff. They always abandon me halfway anyways.'_

"You're so lucky Shiro, at least you have Obaa-san when you die. Unlike me who will die alone." she whispered loud enough only to be heard by the puppy.

* * *

Thank you for reading and please review!

_-Kaori-chan_


	5. Chapter 5

Hiya Everyone!

I receive some very interesting theories about the story, but I'm going to continue to be selfish and not reveal anything. As always thank you to everyone for your support!

Here is Chapter 5, please read, and review!

* * *

Toshiro looked up at the street signs, it was about a ten minutes walk from the café Ikeda owned, or it should have been ten minutes.

"Great, I finally found Ume and Koori street." relieved that he wouldn't have to take another walk around the neighborhood.

'_If the old man finds out about this, he'll probably laugh at me and degrade my sense of direction to that of Zaraki's.'_

Toshiro looked around, "Where should I search first? Or should I ask around?"

In the meantime, Momo, hidden behind a neatly trimmed hedge in Yuu's front lawn, stared at the man standing at the corner right where the bus stop was in horror.

'_What is he doing here?! What should I do? If I chose to leave Yuu-san's house I have to get my bag and he'll notice me for sure! Momo think!_' she stole another glance at him.

Toshiro turned around, and Momo quickly vanished from his sight before he could take notice. '_That's strange. I felt like someone was looking at me._' he thought.

'_Maybe it's her!_' he began to walk in Momo's direction.

Momo panicked, he was coming toward her. She retreated into the backyard of the house and quickly hurried into the house through the backdoor.

"Momo, what's wrong? Shiro began barking, and all of a sudden you ran in-" Yuu began.

Momo ran up the stairs, "Yuu baa-san, if anyone comes looking for someone like me, please tell them you've never seen me!"

Yuu, concerned, asked "Why?"

"I think the pervert I met at the train station is still after me." she replied.

Yuu saw the fear petrifying Momo's eyes, "Let it to me. I won't let him lay a finger on you. Neither will Shiro." The puppy barked in response to his owner's words.

The doorbell rang, and Yuu opened the door to see a white haired young man in messy soiled clothes.  
'_And he smells like he's ran a marathon from Hokkaido to Tokyo. Did he shower last night? Doesn't seem like it._' she thought.

"How may I help you?" Yuu said to Toshiro at the door looking at him rather suspiciously.

"I'm looking for someone named Hinamori, Momo. Did you happen to see her?" he held up a picture of Momo.

'_He seems rather anxious. I wonder._'

Yuu took the picture into her hands, and looked at it carefully, "Would you like to come in? You looked like you've been running a marathon across Japan looking for her."

The two chatted in the sitting room for about half an hour.

"Souka, so you are Momo-san's doctor. I would never have guessed." she said as she laughed at his messy appearance from staying up all night and running across half of Tokyo.

"I ran into some trouble along the way." Toshiro said a bit annoyed at the reminder of the previous night.

The look in Toshiro's eyes changed as switched the subject back over to the reason why he was there, "Asagi-san, if you've seen Momo, please tell me. She hasn't had treatment since the day before, and probably doesn't have enough medication to last a week."

He bowed his head low enough to touch the coffee table, "Onegai, please tell me Asagi-san."

Asagi observed the action of Toshiro, touched that he was willing to go so far, "Tell me."

"Tell me why you are willing to put aside yourself for this young girl? Even after all of the things she's done to you. Why are you willing to go so far? Just because you are her doctor? Tell this old woman why?" she said.

Toshiro lifted his head, a tad astonished at the question asked. He didn't know where to begin his answer.

"Asagi-san." he began, "Even I myself do not know the reason why I'm going so far for this girl. I've even thought to myself while I was looking for her, why Toshiro? She is just another patient. What makes her different from the others at the hospital of or the past ones you've treated?"

He seemed to be thinking something over, perhaps something of the past he was reminded of as he spoke those words.

"When I first found Momo in the forest and spoke to her. Her eyes give the impression of harboring a deep sadness and loneliness. I was so surprised I didn't speak. Have I even seen eyes that full of sorrow before? Why is this girl not taking the chance to extend her life with the surgery? Why is she so willing to throw away her life for a dream she may not even accomplish in the time she has left?" he said as he remembered the moments in the forest.

"Maybe it's because I'm still new to the field. Maybe it's the lack of experience that I don't have the answers, but I feel like I want to help her rid the sorrow from those eyes. However, as her doctor I can't let her roam around without treatment and would like for her to get the surgery when it becomes available."

Yuu listened to Toshiro with an unresponsive expression. "If that is how you truly feel, then I think you'll be able to find her one day."

She picked up Shiro, "Please excuse me while I put Shiro upstairs."

'_I think I should talk to her._' Yuu thought about the girl living in her home.

She opened the door to Momo's room to find a sight she did not wish to see. Momo was laying on the ground with her eyes shut tightly, her breathing ragged.

"Takiya-san!"

* * *

Thank you for reading and please review!

-Kaori-chan


	6. Chapter 6

Thanks for everyone who read the last chapter!

Here's the next one! Please read, enjoy, and review.

* * *

When Momo opened her eyes she found herself looking at a stark white ceiling.

The door opened and to her horror, Momo saw her cousin wearing her doctor's coat meaning that she was back where she started.

"So you're awake now?" Ikeda said. "Stop trying to get out of bed, no one informed your father yet. Don't worry, he won't be rushing over until I make the call." she said as Momo tried to scramble out of bed.

"Why am I here?" Momo asked her voice filled with distress.

"You passed out after overexerting yourself by trying to escape from me." Toshiro said as he stepped into the room.

"Dear cousin, now that Hitsugaya sensei is here, I will return to tending to my patients." Ikeda sensei said as she tossed Momo an envelope.

'_It couldn't have been that he brought me back here?_' Momo questioned.

As if he could read Momo's thoughts, "Yes, it was me that brought you back here. You really worried Asagi-san did you know that?"

"Now, why were you running away anyways? I heard from Ikeda sensei that you were trying to get something published." he asked as he checked her pulse.

Momo glared at him and responded coldly, "It's none of your business sensei."

He smirked, "Are you angry because I brought you back here?"

"Of course I am! If I stay here then I can't accomplish a thing!" she shouted at him before falling victim to a series of coughs and wheezing.

"Take it easy, you've got a slight cold from running away last night. You shouldn't go sketch in the forest wearing only a t-shirt and jeans during October. You could have gotten pneumonia." Toshiro told her after making sure she was alright.

"I would have rather gotten pneumonia instead of being back here." Momo mumbled.

Toshiro began to walk toward the door, "Asagi-san will be coming in to see you later. So until then get some rest."

He turned around with a smirk on his face "And Hinamori-san, please don't run away again, unless you want this pervert to chase you down."

As Toshiro closed the door he heard something being thrown across the room, most likely aimed for his head.

"Hitsugaya sensei, how is she?" asked Asagi when he came out.

"She's doing fine, but she needs considering doing the surgery soon. I didn't discuss the surgery with her because of her condition right now." he told her.

"Ikeda sensei told me she was going to contact her father when she came out." Asagi said.

'Maybe her father can talk her into taking the surgery.' Toshiro thought as he remembered he left her bag in his office. '_Better get it for her.'_

_**Meanwhile in Ikeda's office**_

"Hello? Uncle? This is Ike- Stop panicking!" Ikeda shouted into the phone as her co-workers backed away from her.

"Hitsugaya sensei found Momo this morning so you can go on your business trip to Paris in with sound mind."

"What?! You're canceling it?! What do you mean by Kaname going in your place!?" she shouted into the phone ready to throw it out the window into the park below.

"You're already getting off the plane?! I thought the flight was going to start in 3 minutes? They're still letting you off? Momo isn't going to be happy with this."

"You've already gotten Iba to rush you over?! Hey! Don't hang up!"

'_Stupid parent_' she thought.

**-**

**For There to be a Sunrise**

**-**

Toshiro carrying Momo's bag looked out the window of the hospital after hearing the faint sound of sirens. He observed a sleek black car pull into the parking lot at break neck speed and a man in a suit running out the car into the hospital as half a dozen cop cars surrounded the car and its driver. He gawked at the comical sight. That was something you definitely did not see everyday.

"Momo's father is here." Ikeda sensei sighed and placed a hand on her forehead.

"If you're going to check on Momo good luck." She said as she walked down the hall in a state of depression mumbling something like how she was related to them.

As Toshiro approached Momo's room he heard things being throw and things making contact with someone's skull. He opened the door, "What's going on here."

A slice of cake splattered on his face. A dark aura formed around Toshiro as he wiped the cake off with his hand, "Who threw that?"

**A little while later after that got resolved...**

Toshiro extended his hand to Momo's father, "I'm Hitsugaya, Toshiro, Momo's new physician."

Momo's father shook his hand, "Please to meet you Hitsugaya sensei. I'm Aizen, Sousuke."

"Dad, don't you have a business trip to go on?" Momo glared at him.

Aizen turned to his daughter and said, "Otou-san cancelled it just when I found out you were back in the hospital about fifteen minutes ago. Otou-san was so worried about you Momo. When you get better let's go to the amusement park together with your cousin and Hisakane-sa-"

Momo threw an eraser at him," Who'd want to go with you two!? I hate you Otou-san! Why do you have to keep bringing the surgery up?! I told you I don't want it!"

"Not until your dream is fulfilled?" he finished with a dark tone.

"Momo, give it up. I'm sure your mother wouldn't want you to loss your life for a silly dream. That's what drove her to her death and if you don't make the right choice you will soon follow in her footsteps."

Aizen turned to Toshiro, "Would it be ok for me to talk to you for a bit sensei?"

"It wouldn't be a problem. There's also something I want to discuss with you." Toshiro said as the both of them began to let the room.

Before he left Toshiro gave Momo a smile and put her bag on the side table next to her, "The sketches inside are really good."

Astonishment was spread across her facial expression along with a light dust of pink.

Momo buried her face into her pillow, "Stupid sensei. Why did he have to say that?"

* * *

Yup, Aizen is Momo's father.

Thanks for reading and please review!

_-Kaori-chan_


	7. Chapter 7

Hiya Everyone!

I got some requests to make the chapter longer. I prefer writing shorter chapters around two or three pages long, but since you requested it ….my answer is that I'll try my best, but I can't guarantee it.

Thank you always for reading and reviewing last chapter.

Here's the next chapter, read, enjoy, and review.

* * *

"Aizen-san, what is it that you want to discuss with me?" Toshiro asked him in the cafeteria of the hospital.

Aizen was hesitant in answering, "Please give Momo the surgery."

Toshiro replied, "Aizen-san, I won't do it with her consent. She is really unwillingly to have the surgery done." He paused for a moment before asking. "Would it be okay if I asked why?"

Aizen looked at the doctor wondering if it was a good idea to tell him.

He sighed and looked up at the ceiling reminiscing, "That child was always chasing after her dreams, just like my late wife was. Even though she was born with a frail heart and poor health, she still tried her best to do the things she likes. The first doctor we went to told us that she might not make it past five."

He looked back at Toshiro with gentleness in his eyes, "However, Kami bestowed her with one miracle after another and this year she's sixteen."

"When I told her about the heart transplant surgery a few years back, that was one of the few times she has defy my wishes." Aizen looked down at his cooling cup of coffee, and stirred it as the heavy silence befell them.

"Do you know what she said to me at the time? She said, "Otou-san, even if my heart stops beating, even if I die I want to accomplish mom's dream and my dream first. That's why I won't have the surgery because I won't risk the chance of it failing nor waste time awaiting another's death." Then she apologized to me. I was really angry at the time."

He stopped stirring his coffee and let his hands fall to the table, "I was never able to understand Momo's feelings. That's probably why I'm not a good father. All the things I've done since my late wife death disappoints her. Acting cheerful around her, encouraging her to do the surgery, taking another wife, buying her things she likes, she hates them all. I know she wants me to support her fulfilling her dreams, but I can't because I know that her time is limited and I want her to live on."

"Even now she still doesn't wish to have the surgery done because of the risk, no matter how small?" Toshiro guessed.

"That's exactly it." Aizen replied. "I would like it if she could have the surgery as soon as possible. To me, losing Momo is like losing the only remembrance of my late wife and the happiness that I once had."

"Aizen-san, I will do my best to persuade Momo, but whether or not she decides to have it rests upon her own decision." at this Aizen feel a bit relieved yet strangely more troubled.

Before he left the hospital that night, Aizen stop by Momo's room, but did not enter.

"Momo, please consider having the surgery. I don't know if you can hear me or not. You've probably heard this multiple times, but Hisakane-san, and everyone would be upset at your death. So please, live for as long as you can." he said before her left.

**For there to be a Sunrise**

Early the next morning, Toshiro pulled into the parking to just in time to see a dark figure in the forest heading inwards. '_Heh, doesn't she ever learn?'_

"Only a little more until the station! Only need to cross this road." Momo said as she waited for the red light to flicker on. She was wondering is she should attempt to run across, since there were no hardly any cars or people out.

"Where do you think you're going?" Toshiro pulled Momo into his car, shut the door and drove off without asking for her approval.

"You again! Why do you follow me everywhere?!" Momo yelled at him. Her plan to run off was foiled once again by him of all people.

"First of all, my name is Toshiro not you. Second, I don't follow you everywhere. You just aren't good at being stealthy when you need to be." He said as he took a turn onto the highway.

'_This guy is so annoying no matter how good-looking or nice he is!_' she thought angrily.

"Where are we going? This isn't the way to Junrinan is it?" Momo asked after a long silence.

"It's four in morning, you're supposed to be asleep at this time, and I figured you haven't had breakfast yet so I'm taking you out to eat." he answered.

"What if I don't want to?" Momo said rather irritated.

"Too bad. It isn't good to skip meals. You probably did it all the time while running away, that's probably why your body is so weak." He replied. At this she turned and looked out the window ignoring him, fuming and extremely irritated.

"What would you like to eat?" he asked her.

"Now that I've been kidnapped, I don't think my opinion really matters." Momo retorted back.

Toshiro smirked, "Does it now? Then I know the prefect place."

After a half hour drive, they stopped in front of an ice cream parlor.

"Ohayo Toshiro." said a cheery man with hair as white as his.

"Who's this? Your girlfriend?"

The older man ran up to a framed picture and pick it up, "Okaa-san, our son has finally found his other half? Isn't this great? Maybe I'll be able to hold my first grandchild soon!"

Momo watched the scene nervously, "Ano, whose that?"

Toshiro sighed before answered, "That's my stepfather, Ukitake, Jushiro. Oyaji, this is Momo, one of my patients."

Ukitake looked at them in disappointment, "So she wasn't your" he held up his pinkie.

"No. Oyaji, get me the usual and Momo what would you like?" he asked her.

"Um, it doesn't matter to me." She answered unsure of what to expect.

"Then a banana split!" Ukitake suggested before he went in to get the frozen treats.

Toshiro lead Momo to a table further inside the parlor.

He took out some documents from the briefcase he was carrying and began reading them while waiting for breakfast.

Then he noticed Momo shaking a little, with her hand over her mouth looking at his strangely, "What's wrong?"

Momo suddenly burst out laughing, "What kind of doctor takes his patients to an ice cream parlor for breakfast?"

Toshiro watched Momo light up with laughter, her lips curling into a smile that rivaled even the angels in heaven. His heart skipped a beat in marvel of her beauty.

He gave a rare smile of his own back, "There's nothing wrong with having ice cream for breakfast. It was worth it since this is the first time I've seen Momo smile and laugh so carefree."

She blushed at this comment, "I-it's not like I wanted to come in the first place. I have no choice since you're the one that kidnapped me in the first place."

Ukitake brought out the ice cream, "Here you go, enjoy you two!" he said before stealing a glance at the two's faces and disappearing into the kitchen.

Toshiro looked at what was supposed to be his breakfast a bit annoyed at the form it had taken. Momo stared at the bowl, so this was why he suggested having a banana split.

Ukitake had instead of making two banana splits, make one huge one, and left a sugary message using some chocolate syrup on the top for the two.

"_It's okay to do it without protection. I wouldn't mind having a grandchild or two around."_

By this point the blush on Momo's face rivaled the crimson of the cherry on top of the split.

"Oi, Oyaji! Take it back! I don't want it!" Toshiro shouted into the kitchen.

"It's bad to waste food Toshiro!" He shouted back at his son, watching the couple through the security camera grinning like a Cheshire cat.

The two of they ate in silence, still a bit embarrassed. As Momo's spoon reached for the chocolate ice cream, it clanked against Toshiro's who was after the chocolate too. They quickly withdrew their spoons and flushed a deeper shade of scarlet remembering the message atop the mount of whipped cream.

Attempting to break the ice, Toshiro asked, "So where did you plan to run off to today?"

Momo looked uncertain whether or not to tell him, "A snowboarding class."

It was Toshiro's turn to burst out laughing, "For a person like you, you're pretty daring. No wonder your father was so worried."

"But why snowboarding?" he inquired.

Momo stuck her tongue out childishly at him, "It's a secret."

A thought formed in Momo's head, and she mischievously grinned at the doctor, "Hey, Sensei. Can you take me somewhere today?"

* * *

Hmm… I wonder what Momo is planning?

Thanks for reading, and please review!

_-Kaori-chan_


	8. Chapter 8

Hello everyone. I'm sorry it took so long to write another chapter out for _Sunrise_.

Please Read, Enjoy, and Review.

* * *

Momo glared angrily at the window, as the nurse tried to coax her into taking her medication.

"I won't take it..." Momo said for the hundredth time.

"Now, now Momo-chan. You had an attack recently right? Hitsugaya-sensei would be troubled if you didnt take your medication." her words fell upon deaf ears.

"Inamori-san, is she not taking it?" Toshirou entered the room looking a tad amused, "Don't worry, I'll take it from here."

"Still mad?" Toshiro smirked watching her pout.

**.......**

**--Flashback--**

She mischievously grinned at the doctor, "Hey, Sensei. Can you take me somewhere today?"

Toshiro leaned in closer, "Only if you give me a kiss."

"Wah?!" Momo jumped back, flushing a deep red, "S-sensei, that's sexual harassment!"

"You thought I was serious?" he laughed, "I'm not interested in little girls."

Embarassed she picked up her bag, "I'm leaving."

"No, you're not." He lifted her easily and proceeded towards his car, "The only place you're going is back to the hospital. Its past time for your checkup."

"Put me down!" Momo struggled to escape as Juushirou waved to them from behind the counter.

**--End of Flashback--**

**........**

"If Sensei hadn't seen me I would've been out of this place a lot time ago." Momo lamented, "Its all Sensei's fault."

He held up a needle, "It'll be Sensei's fault soon if you don't get your shot."

She eyed the slender tube and inched back, "I don't want it."

"If you don't get your shot, you won't get better." she shooked her head furiously.

He sighed and took her hand into his. "Sensei, what are you doing?" she blushed a bit at the contact.

With his forefinger he traced a smiley face into her palm, "Someone once told me that if you trace three smileys into your palm, your shots won't hurt as much."

He traced another while he injected the needle into her arm.

Momo winched at the pain, "It still hurt. Sensei, you liar." She childishly stuck her tongue at him.

"I said that it wouldn't hurt as much." Toshirou picked up his clipboard and walked towards the door, "Now stay put in your room and have a good rest."

The door shut, Momo peered at the window thinking of running out again. A bit tired, she decided against it for a while. Looking out at the sunset, she began to absentmindedly draw smileys on her palm. "Sensei..."

* * *

"Hitsugaya sensei, wanna go drinking with us later. Rangiku knows a good bar." Kyoraku sensei loomed over his desk to see what he was working on.

"Research thesis? Sensei, stop wasting your youth. Drinking, drinking, lets go!" Rangiku shut the the lid of his laptop.

"Nah, I'm fine." Toshirou llifted the screen up, and resumed typing.

"How boring he's all work and no play." Kyoraku complained hoping to provoke him.

Still he continued typing as they waited for any kind of reaction. "Let him be, might as well go have fun yourselves. The night isn't getting any younger." Ikeda sensei waltzed in with her patient charts.

"Ike, aren't you going tonight?" Gin asked coming into the group.

She sighed, "Too tired."

"That's right, the ER had a flood of patients today after that accident at Route 40." Kyoraku recalled how panicked Isane looked, rushing for one operating room to the next.

"I w-was not panicking!" Isane rather red in the face came into the office space and handed the patient charts to Hitsugaya.

"Ah, thanks" he murmured before returning to the screen.

"Kyoraku-sensei, where were you today? The interns were panicking at your sudden disappearance." she complained.

He sighed, "Can't I have a lunch break? Just hand them some scalpels and let them rip. They don't need to ask me about every little thing."

A loud bonk echoed through the ward as Ise-sensei whacked him with a nearby medical dictionary, "Sensei, would you mind watching your words."

He rubbed the growing bump on his head, "Why if it isn't my lovely first assistant Nanao-chan. Today is quite a hectic one isn't it?"

"That's why you should come drinking with us." Rangiku chirped, "Relieve the stress of today!"

"And wake up with a throbbing hangover tomorrow? No thanks." Toshirou scribbled his signature on one of the sheets.

"Aww, come Sensei! It'll be like your welcoming party." Rangiku glanced at the clock, "We better get going."

Gin, Rangiku, and Kyouraku went out to drink, exiting the hospital singing a drinking song rather loudly.

"Director Yamamoto isn't going to be happy with them tomorrow." Isane sighed as she sat in the lounge with a cup of tea."

"If they wake up in time for work." Unohana smiled, and took a seat besides Isane with a cup of iced coffee.

Isane sighed, "That's true. Momo-chan might run off again tomorrow too. What a day its gonna be."

* * *

Just as Isane predicted, Momo had gotten up early that morning to perform her well thoughtout plan.

She duck under the receptionist's desk, and scanned the hallways for familiar faces.

An expression of joy lit up as she found that there were none.

"Of course, no one would be about at 3 in the morning." she happily dashed towards the entrance past the sleeping security guard.

The doors slid open, and she bursted into a light run off the lawn and headed towards the station.

"Ano, one ticket for the the Narita Airport." she pushed the money in a hurry towards the worker.

She took a quick glance around, no one luckily. Grabbing the ticket she boarded the bus, and let out a sigh of relief having never made it this far before.

* * *

Again, I apologize for the long wait for _Sunrise_.

Thank you for reading and please review! Reviews are loved and appreciated (and might hurry the next chapter up too!)

--Kumachii


	9. Chapter 9

This chapter is a little longer then the usual. Good or Bad change? xD  
Thank you all to those who reviewed and put _Sunrise_ on alert.  
That makes me really happy and motivated to write the next chapter.

Thank you for reading _Sunrise_! Please read, enjoy, and review Chapter 9.

* * *

The bus stopped at the airport, the city still in a sleepy daze.

Momo glanced at her watch, it was only four in the morning, "The staff might be checking up on me now. Too bad I'm at least an hour away."

She walked to the booth to obtain her ticket. "Hai, only carry-on madam?" the woman asked glancing over her.

She nodded, "Hai."

A bit annoyed at how slow she was going through the check-in process, finally getting her boarding pass after the lady punched in her ticket number right out of twenty-five attempts.

She stopped in front of the departures gate and turned to take one last glance at Tokyo through the huge glass windows.

The sun was beginning to rise, filling the sky with a slight cherry blossom tint. It was a beautiful sight, yet it wouldn't be as wonderful as the one in her memories.

Momo turned away from the sight and took as step towards the gate.

Suddenly she stopped, as a familiar voice called out to her.

"HINAMORI, MOMO!" quick, she spun around to see the last person she wanted to see.

Hitsugaya-sensei, looked like he was ready to chuck his scalpel at her..if he had one at the time.

"Shimatta!" Momo thought as she showed her boarding pass and slipped into the gate.

Before she went through, she told the security guard nearby, "If a white haired man comes through here, please don't let him through. He's my ex-husband, we just separated not too long ago. He'll make up any lie, saying he's my doctor for some stupid critical condition, or he's with the government, etc. Please, please don't let him follow into the gate."

Tears streamed down her cheeks, the guard blushed a bit, "Don't you worry madam. You were right to leave him. Be assured, I won't let him get you."

Hearing that, an elated smile spread across Momo's face and she bowed, "Arigato gozaimasu!" With that, she passed through and went on her way to board her plane at the number indicated on her pass.

Hitsugaya stopped in front of the said guard, panting he requested, "C-can I please get through. T-the girl that was just here is my patient. She just ran away from the hospital."

The guard waited until he caught his breath, and wondered how long he have been running for, "I'm sorry sir. Unless you have a boarding pass, you can't get through."  
He smugly smiled feeling proud that he was helping the poor girl from what he imagined to be a terrible situation.

His smile soon melted under the icy glare emitted from Toshirou. "Excuse me, may I ask which gate she is headed for?" a muffled scream was thought to have been imagined by nearby attendants.

On the plane Momo shoved her bag of belongings into the carry-on bin. "Phew." Momo took her seat by the window and looked out. It would only be a little bit until take-off.

"Miss, please buckle up. The plane will be departing shortly." a flight attendent passed by checking the passengers.

"Hai, sumimasen." Momo fumbled with the two ends of seat belt. A pair of hands reached over and adjusted it for her.

"Ah, thank y-ek!" Momo fell back in her seat, "H-hitsugaya sensei?!" Toshirou fastened his own seat belt, "It's been a while hasn't it?"

She was scared out of her wits, "He's mad. He's definitely angry. I'm doomed."

"Calm down." he told her as if he had sensed her increasingly panicked thinking.

"Eh?" she watched as he asked the attendant for a bottle of water.

He turned back to her and saw her confused expression, "What is it?"

"Aren't you angry Sensei?" she asked meekly.

His face contorted and a dark aura began to arise around him, "Damn right I am."

Momo shrunk back, "I'm sorry."

He sighed, "What are you apologizing for? There's no use to being angry now. The plane's gonna take off soon."

"You weren't going to forced me to get off?" she asked.

"You would've caused another huge disturbance and made trouble for the airline. Might as well just get you on another plane back to Tokyo as soon as we get to the airport in Hokkaido." he told her as if he were talking about a troublesome pet.

She pouted, "You're making me go back after all."

"Of course I am. In your condition you should be hospitalized. As the patient, you should know your own condition better then anyone else." he scolded her.

"That reminds me, how much medication do you have on you? Are you hurt anyway? Did you-" he was interrupted by the attendant.

"Um, excuse me. Here's the water you requested." she handed him the water.

She made her way back to the other attendants, thinking that he wasn't looking she pointed at him and made flapping motions and gestures.

Momo laughed, "Hehe. She's calling you a mother hen. It can't be helped Sensei is too meddlesome."

He turned a slight shade of red and looked away from her embarrassed. Giving her the bottle, he commanded, "Take your medication after the plane lifts off.

"Hai hai." Momo took the bottle and shoved it into the magazine pouch.

"Only one yes was needed." he told her.

**A little while later.**  
Momo was in a field lying in the grass gazing at the clouds in the sunny sky. She giggled at the sun's smiley face. It was so cute and silly.

"Wake up." a voice urged her.

"Hmm?" she murmured.

"Wake up." the voice repeated, its sounded oddly like Hitsugaya sensei.

She felt like she was being lifted into the air, the sky darkened. Where was she?

It felt oddly warm and protective, she snuggled closer to its core.

Was she in a fantasy? If she were, Momo felt like she didn't want to wake up.

Awws, and other such sounds were getting louder.

"Where am I?" she wondered. She cracked opened her eyes and saw Hitsugaya Sensei looking down at her.

"Eh?" Momo realized she had been dreaming and that she was really snuggled against Hitsugaya Sensei's chest.

"Ek!" she nearly fell out of his arms.

"Careful." he shielded her head from hitting a nearby seat as the attendants jealously watched the two wishing to be carried bridal style by Toshirou too.

"Sensei, I can walk." she objected, a bit embarassed to be carried by him.

His grip on her remained firm, Toshirou only let Momo down when they reached the arrivals gate.

"Just our rotten luck." Toshirou looked out the window at the raging blizzard that struck.

Flights were being delayed, it was a miracle they arrived in Hokkaido on time.

"Hinamori, hold it right there." he caught her attempting to escaping as he planned for the situation. Realizing she was caught, Momo broke into a run.

"Urgh, that idiot!" Toshirou took off after annoyed yet worried over her condition.

* * *

A cry shook the Junrinan Hospital awake from its quiet slumber.

Unohana sensei, hurried down the hall towards the cry with Isane by her side.

Isane, after night duty and assisting Unohana sensei with the surgeries after several patient's conditions when unstable, hoped the cry was just a hallucination.

They stopped in front of room E105 to see Aizen, Sousuke on his knees. "Aizen-san?" Isane hesitatingly called out to him.

"She's gone again." he moaned burying his face in his hands.

Unohana sensei sighed, Isane was right last night about the grand escape plan.

Ikeda sensei noticed the two outside of Momo's room, "Unohana sensei, Isane, Ohayo-"

She noticed the looks on their faces and appoached Momo's room, "She's gone again isn't she."

"Ikeda sensei, won't you do something about Aizen-san? He's been like that ever since he found she disappeared." Isane pointed to the figure kneeled to the ground.

"Uncle, I'm sure Hitsugaya sensei is looking for her now." she tried to cheer him up, "Saw him heading out of the hospital early this morning."

Ignoring her words, he whipped out his slick black cellphone, and began phoning every contact on his list for traces of his precious daugther.

"Iba, prep all the cars. Cancel those meetings and those trips until I find Momo I'm not going to g-" before he could finish his sentence Ikeda sensei whacked him on the head with the binder she was holding.

Picking up the phone annoyingly, "Iba, make sure this idiot of mines uncle goes to work. Hitsugaya Sensei is currently searching for Momo so dont prep all the cars to fly down the streets of Tokyo in a mad search. Hisakane-san won't be happy to know if he skips work."

She looked down at the binder she used to whack him with, it was dented and the papers were flying out, "Ack! The notes for the director's press conference today!"

Aizen was marched down to the office to wait for Iba since he didn't feel like waiting outside nor in the lobby being as troublesome as he was.

The trio that went drinking last night arrived in for work on time, aside from the fact that they were still drunk. Kyoraku sensei fell over and hit his head on a desk corner, clumsily he got the medical kit out and began stitching himself up- on the wrong spot.

Nanao walked in and gazed upon the sight, her shoulders slumped, "What a pain."

Gin and Rangiku somehow snuck beer and were drinking with Aizen, Kyoraku sensei was stitching himself up while still drunk, Unohana and Isane were the only sane ones fast asleep from night shifts.

The phone rang, Ikeda sensei picked it up, "Hello, Hitsugaya sensei? You found Momo. Good. You two can't make it back until tonight? Alright, I'll inform Director Yamamoto."

Hearing those words the room seemed to calm a little, Gin slurred, "Hitsugaya sensei sure is hard-working. We don't pay enough here to search for lost patients."

"Well, isn't Junrinan lucky to have such a hardworking sensei unlike some of the doctors here." Isane mumbled sleepily.

"Ah. Real lucky." Nanao kneeled down to remove the wrong stitches on Kyoraku and bandage his light wound that really didn't require stitiches at all.

"Wasn't he at the Tokyo Univesity Hospital? Why is he doing at a place like Junrinan Hospital when he was working at the best hospital in the country?" Rangiku wondered aloud.

"Who knows." Kyoraku winched at the stitches being harshly pulled out.

* * *

In a inn somewhere in Hokkaido near the airport, Momo was captured and being examined by Toshirou.

Luckily he brought his medical kit with Momo's patient charts and medication just in case, he phoned the hospital before they left the airport. The blizzard wouldn't be letting out until tomorrow.

Using his stethoscope he listened to Momo's heartbeat, "You idiot. You shouldn't have taken this trip and run back in the airport."

Taking a needle from his kit, he lifted it to her arm as she tiredly replied, "I didn't want to go back after coming this far."

"Why not?" he asked as he skillfully made the injection, and discarded the needle.

Not wanting to reply, Momo asked a question that had been going through her mind, "Sensei, how'd you know I was at the airport?"

He hesitated before replying, "Your sketchbook has that one picture with the fields. Those lavender fields looked alot like the ones in Hokkaido countryside. So I thought you might be at the airport to fly somewhere into the countryside."

Surprised Momo responded, "Wow, Sensei can tell that much from that one picture?"

"I grew up in Hokkaido." he checked her heartbeat again, "We should probably get you back to the hospital. You shouldn't be out here."

"Sensei, again with the hospital. Don't you have anything better to say?" Momo retorted back.

He smirked, "Then what would you like me to say?"

Momo blushed, "Nothing. Sensei is so annoying."

Toshirou got up, "I'm going to buy us something to eat."

He headed out the door, "Don't try running away again. I know these streets better than you do blindfolded."

"Humph, 'I know these streets better then you do.' he says." Momo plopped down on the cozy feather bed, lying still on it basking in the softness.

She smiled, "So soft and fluffy, unlike the ones in the hospital. Someone might have once died on mines."

Momo sank deeper into the feather bed, then it struck her, "Wait, there's only one bed in this room!" She swiftly got off the bed and looked at it as if it were a cursed object.

The door opened, Toshirou called out, "Hinamori, are you okay with Yakisoba and Gyudon?"

He put the bags of food on the table and looked over at her,"What are you doing in the corner over there?"

_'Is she not feeling well?'_ he wondered. She looked like she's seen a ghost.

"Pervert!" she threw a pillow at him, causing him to spill the miso soup on himself.

**A Few Moments Later...**

"Hey, this is the second time you've ruined my suit." he grumbled remembering the incident at the station the first time, a bit pissed off that he was thought of as a pervert.

Momo sheepishly apologized, "Sorry Sensei. I didn't know that they didn't have two rooms available. I'll pay for the cleaning."

He sighed and scooped some food on a plate for her, "I told you before I'm not interested in little girls."

Feeling a bit irritated but that last comment, "I'm not a little girl. Legally I can get married at this age."

"I feel horrible for your future husband then..." Toshirou quietly mumbled, unfortunately Momo heard him.

"Sensei is such a meanie. I bet all of your children will be short and mean too." she said back.

He grabbed the remaining yakisoba for himself, "Why are you in Hokkaido anyways? Its freezing here you idiot."

She replied, "Its none of Sensei's business. If that guard would've stopped you, I would have gotten away a long time ago."

He frowned as he remembered the trouble with that guard, hoping the board would never find out.

* * *

Thank you for reading and please review!  
Oh, there is a question I've been meaning to ask. Does it bother you that I spell "Toshirou" this way? Or should I spell it this way "Toshiro"?

_-Kumachii_


	10. Chapter 10

Good Morning! Glancing over at the clock, it is almost two in the morning right now.  
I'm so tired. Spend a good part of the day writing for this fanfiction, but my motivation level is drastically decreasing as I look over at my Algebra homework..  
I hate it when homework doesn't count, yet you have to do it or you'll fail. =P

It was irritating me to write 'Toshiro' so I'm keeping it 'Toshirou' for now.  
Here's the next chapter! xD Are my updates getting more frequent or what?

Please Read, Enjoy, and Review! Thank you to those that review last chapter! It made me extremely happy to know this is liked! xD

* * *

Momo was lying in bed, snuggled in the covers, she began to get sleepy.

The sound of water running from the shower stopped, the bathroom door opened and Toshirou stepped out wearing only a bathrobe.

"Kya!" she ducked under the covers, "Sensei, what are you wearing?!"

He stiffened a laugh, that reaction of hers was so cute, "You spilled soup on my clothes earlier, they aren't dried yet. I'm not going to sleep in my suit."

Running a hand through his damp hair, and grabbed a can of tea sitting on the table, "How are you feeling?"

Toshirou lifted the covers off her head and placed a hand on her forehead frowning slightly, "You're a little warm."

Momo swatted his hand away, "I'm fine Sensei."

"Hai hai." he walked to the other side of the bed and lifted a corner of the quilt up.

"S-sensei! What are you doing?" she glowed a radiant red as Toshirou slipped into the bed next to her.

"Don't worry. I'm not going to do anything to you." he straightened his pillow up, and pulled a book out of the medical bag to read along with his eyeglasses.

Looking up from his book, he glanced over to Momo, "You're going to fall off."

Momo was pressed against the edge, looking frightened, _'I'm sharing a bed with a strange man. I can't get married anymore!'_

He sighed and grabbed her, "Come here."

"Eh?" Momo was pulled next to Toshirou.

"Isn't that better?" he said returning his attention back to the medical book.

Momo felt like she was burning, and was positive there are a very noticeable blush overtaking her face.

She looked up at him feeling strangely embarassed, his white hair was softly flopping without the stiff gel holding it up, his gaze carefully traced over the text as a free hand ran through his hair to push his bangs out of the way.

_Doki Doki_, her heart skipped a beat, she gasped, _'No. Momo you are not finding Sensei to be strangely attractive'_

She pulled the covers over her head, and turned away from Toshirou, _'Not falling for Sensei'_

Toshirou pulled the covers off her head, "Its not good to do that."

His hand lingered over her head, hesitatingly he began to stroke her soft, silky hair.

_'Toshirou, what are you doing?'_ his inner self yelled at him to stop.

Momo felt like she was going to melt, inside she was feeling warm and fuzzy, how long has it been since someone treated her this way?

"Sensei?" she softly said.

"Hmm?" he stopped and removed his hand from her head, a little surprised at his actions.

She turned to face him and innocently asked, "Ne, Sensei. Why are you going so far for me? Normally, doctors won't go this far for one patient."

He wondered how he should answer this time to such question remembering back to Asagi-san.

"You're like one of those pets you can't leave alone without getting into dire trouble." he casually shook the question off.

"How mean of Sensei." Momo felt her eyelids growing heavier with sleep, to think she was hoping for him to say something serious.

He noticed and gave a rare smile, "You're such a pain when running away."

_'Yet, you're so peaceful asleep'_ he thought.

She grew more drowsy, "Then don't chase after me if I'm a pain Sensei."

A tear rolled down her cheek, "Its okay, I'm already used to being alone."

She continued on, "After Mama died, Otou-san left me alone all the time because it was too painful to look at me probably. Everyone always said I resembled Mama alot."

His gaze softened as he listened on, "After that I ran away from the hospital alot. Surgeons wanted to operate on me even though I didn't need the surgery at the time, it was always about cutting someone open and rising the success rate of the doctor in charge of me always quit after a while because it was troublesome to come after me. Such doctors deserve to die, I rather expire from my own time then have a surgery by greedy scums."

Tears were overflowing, "Is Sensei going to treat me the same was as those senseis? Am I a patient that exists for the hospital?"

Momo felt two strong arms wrap around her, comforting her, wiping away her tears and worries, "Sensei.."

"Shh, its okay now. I won't abandon you like those other doctors." Toshirou held her closer feeling how small and frail she was.

"Sensei, then you won't take me back to Tokyo?" she asked, afraid of what his answer might be, "Please don't take me back.."

Toshirou didn't say anything as he held her close, almost afraid that she would suddenly vanish.

* * *

A dark figure was looming around the corner, "Faster! Run faster!"

The menacing voice crackled as its long smoky fingers wrapped around the neck, "Caught ya."

Falling, falling, it was so dark. Where was this place? Looking up, the dark figure grinned and threw a scalpel down at the falling object.

"Aaahhh!" Momo shot up from the bed, dripping in cold sweat.

The bathroom door was thrown open, Toshirou rushed into the room to Momo's side, "Hinamori, what's wrong? Hinamori?"

She let out another shriek, "Gah! Why is Sensei only in a towel!?"

Knocking was heard, "Excuse me, is everything alright in there?"

The owner poked her head into the room, glancing at the two sitting on the bed, she blushed, "Sumimasen, I didn't mean to intrude. Please keep it down for the other customers please."

"Ah, wait! It isn't that way!" Momo shouted as the owner closed the door mumbling something about how youngers don't wait until marriage anymore.

"Hinamori, are you okay?" Toshirou revered his full attention back to her.

She nodded and looked away blushing proficiently, "Ano, Sensei, can you change into something else."

"Ah, sorry." he turned away embarassed making his way back to the bathroom.

After changing into his suit, he checked up on Momo, "Alright, let's get breakfast."

He packed the medical kit back as Momo went to change, his mind wandered back to the unanswered question Momo asked him last night.

_"Sensei, then you won't take me back to Tokyo?" she asked, afraid of what his answer might be, "Please don't take me back.."_

Being her doctor, how was he suppose to respond to that?

However, remembering last night made him waver about whether or not he was doing the right thing after all.

_'Toshirou, why do you care so much? Just take her back to Tokyo before things get worse.'_

**Flashback**

"Toshirou, you're the worst!" she shouted angrily.  
Toshirou reached out for her, "Wait! Don't!"  
It was too late.

**End of Flashback**

Toshirou was awoken from memory lane but the clicking of the door, he looked up in time to see Momo inching out with her bag.

She saw that he noticed her futile attempt to escape again, _'Got to run again'_

"Hinamori!" he caught her before she was even a foot from their room door.

She looked at him unhappily, "Sensei, caught me again."

"You're too slow." he replied. They made their way down the hall and Toshirou paid for the room.

The snow crunched under their shoes, the walk from the room to the lawn outside had been silent.

"Are we going to the airport?" Momo asked not meeting his eyes.

"No." he said giving her a sense of hope, "We're going to get breakfast."

The glimmer of light had been horribly crushed, glumly she asked, "Ice cream again?"

He grinned, "In this weather, not this time."

Toshirou grabbed her hand, "Let's hurry."

"Eh? Sensei?" Momo looked at him surprised as they walked down the busy morning street.

_'Sensei's hands are so warm.'_ she thought, the snow was beginning to softly fall again.

"Ano, Sensei, where are we going? Sensei?" he stopped at the corner and looked around.

The pointed to the left, and he pulled her along avoiding the cars coming down the road.

"This way", he pointed with a warm expression, they crossed another street to a fancy tea house.

The "closed" sign was still hanging on the door, but he ignored it and went in anyway.

"Wait a minute Sensei. The store is still closed." Momo protested.

He squeezed her hand in assurance, "It'll be alright. Watch."

Momo watched in awe as he whistled, a little, white puppy jumped out from behind the counter.

Toshirou laughed as the puppy greeted him, "You're not Sumomo."

"How cute." Momo engulfed the puppy in a warm hug.

A voice wavered in from the next room, a woman draped in a simple kimono with long snowy hair pulled back in a bun made her appearance, "Of course he's not Toshie. That's Sumomo's son."

"Ohayo gozaimasu." Momo greeted her bowing slightly.

She returned the greeting before turning to Toshirou, "Welcome home."

He smiled slightly, "I'm home Kaa-san."

Ukitake, Jushirou came into the tea house, "Ah! Toshirou, you're home! Momo-chan is here too!"

The two were seated at a nearby table as Jushirou and Yukiko busied themselves setting up and making breakfast.

"Toshie, you should at least call before you come home." his mother scolded him, setting tea on the table.

The little puppy that had attack Toshirou earlier jumped up onto the table, he nuzzled Momo and began lapping up her tea.

Toshirou lifted the pup away from the tea, "Sumomo, don't drink the tea."

"I thought I told you he wasn't Sumomo." his mother commented, "Girlfriend?"

For a moment his mother's eyes began to sparkle slightly, Momo blushed, "Kaa-san, she's just my patient."

Toshiro put puppy back on the ground and got up to replace Momo's cup of tea.

"Toshie, why don't you take the little guy with you? Momo-chan might like him running around." Yukiko pointed to the pup and nudged Momo.

"What makes you think they'll let her keep him in the hospital with her?" he asked thinking that it was an absurd question.

Yukiko shook her head, "No, no. Not the hospital. Your apartment."

"Then she won't see him." he said.

"Bring her over to your place after your shifts." she piped up.

"Eh?" Momo looked at her surprised.

He set a new cup of tea down, "Sorry to disappoint your attempts at snagging a daughter-in-law, no."

Yukiko shrugged, "How hard can it be to pop a few Xanax into her water."

"Kaa-san!" Toshirou and Momo both looked at her in surprise.

Momo looked at her cup of tea, then back at Toshirou, "Sensei!"

"I didn't." he said in an irritated tone, maybe it was a bad idea to come home for breakfast after all.

"I would rather not be mistaken for a pervert again." recalling the past few incidents that happened in the short span of time after meeting Momo.

Yukiko's eyes shone, "What's this about a pervert?"

* * *

I enjoyed writing the first half of this chapter alot. xD  
Although, I kind of suck at it, I'll draw pictures of certain scenes from the fanfiction and post when I have time.

Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed it. Please Review! Reviews are loved and this baka author's motivation levels will shoot up. xD

Oh yeah, any suggestions for the little, white Shiba Inu's name? If so, please put them in the review box.

Thank you!


	11. Chapter 11

I'm tired, surviving on two hours of sleep. I'm posting this before I go to class tonight or else I'll forget and it'll be delayed for a while longer.

First of all, I'll like to thank Harpylove1, kRyStAlt3aRz, Momo - Toshiro, AznVKai, and Angelic Literature for reviewing these recent chapters.  
Thank you for all of your support!

Here's chapter 11, please read, enjoy, and review!

* * *

Momo was smiling when the two came out of the tea house, "Sensei's mother is a fun person."

Toshirou scowled, still very irritated about the Xanax comment, "Really now?"

She nodded cheerfully, "Hai, Yukiko-san is so beautiful too. Just like the legendary Shirahime."

Seeing her smile and chatter like this made melted his heart a little, "Shirahime? You still like fairy tales, and fantasies with princes and princesses?"

Momo blushed madly, he chuckled, "So you do. Nothing wrong with that."

"Which is your favorite?" Toshirou asked rather liking the bloom of red tinting her face.

She turned around the corner abruptly, "Why should I tell you?"

He followed her, smiling to himself in an unusually good mood.

When he reached Momo's side, somehow she felt out of place with such a handsome, designer brand clothed sensei walking besides her.

Wanting to distract herself, Momo began to think of another escape plan when something in a nearby shop caught her eye.

"Ah, kawaii!" she went up the the window with shining eyes.

He peeked at the window to see an assortment of little fairytale themed items.

Momo turned away from the window, almost running into the dear little shop, he went in after her mildly scolding her for running again.

"Irashaimase." the sandy, blond haired shopkeeper greeted them.

A little girl with shiny, raven hair pulled into pigtails shyly greeted them, "Irashaimase."

"Sensei, go over there." Momo instructed him pointing to a corner in the back of the shop.

He looked at her in mild confusion, "Why?"

She blushed and gently pushed him towards the back, "Just do it."

"Fine." he walked to the back watching Momo excitedly hurrying back to the shopkeeper, pointing towards the window.

"Ano. I think she's embarrassed. Your girlfriend." the girl with the pigtails told him.

He expressed a tender gaze, "Ah, I know."

Then the latter part of her sentence hit him, a bit perturbed, he replied "She's not my girlfriend."

She giggled, "Not yet right mister?"

"Its not like that." he said, his thoughts going back to Momo's condition.

The two watched Momo picked up a little crystal sculpture pointing to it as if she were inquiring the price.

"Mister." the soft voice of the girl called out to him.

He directed his attention to her, "Hai?"

"You shouldn't dwell on the past so much." she told him.

"What makes you think that?" he asked a bit confused.

She tiptoed and placed her hand over his heart, "Mister, your heart is screaming."

Her eyes drooped, "Its screaming. The former has frozen your heart."

She removed her hand and watched him pondering over her words, placing his own hand over his heart checking the beating.

An unsure realization showed in his eyes, he quickly brushed the matter off maintaining his composure.

The next words the girl uttered, chilled him, awakening an old memory.

"That girl." she pointed to Momo, "Without a doubt."

She stared deep into his eyes with a sad, confident expression, "Will die by your hands."

_'What does she think she's saying?'_ A sharp, frigid pain shot through his arm as he recollected and was sure that somehow the girl was referring to that.

"Watch what you say. I'm sorry, but please leave." he replied back to her in an icy tone, looking away with a bitter expression.

She bowed in apology, turning to leave she left one last message, "Mister. The gears are shifting. Its up to you now, Messiah-sama."

"Now, now. Ururu, don't bother the customers." a woman with long, flowing purple hair came from the backroom.

"Hai. Sumimasen Yoruichi-san." she returned to work.

Momo was walking towards him with a disappointed face, "Sensei. I'm done."

"You aren't getting anything?" he asked.

The blond haired shopkeeper snuck up behind him and whispered, "I told her an unreasonable price. Now is your chance."

Toshirou turned to see the retreating back of the said person, laughing on his way into the backroom.

He looked annoying at the meddlesome shopkeeper and the objects shining in the window.

Determined not to please the annoying salesman and do as he planned, he walked out of the shop quietly with a rather glum Momo-chan.

They continued down the street in silence, he was still quite bothered by that girl's words.

Catching the sight of Momo's unhappy face and her efforts to keep the frown off sent him on a trail of conflicting thoughts, _'I'm not going back to get a stupid sculpture....but she'_

"Sensei! Sensei!" her voice broke him out of his thinking, she was beckoning himself into a nearby alley down the street.

"Momo, don't go into suspicous places." he entered the alley to see Momo holding up a familiar puppy.

"He followed us." she chirped happily, snuggling the cute animal.

He jumped out of her arms and make his way out of the alley.

"Wait!" Momo called out and began taking off after the pup.

He held her back, "Don't do any more strenuous exercise. You did enough running yesterday."

"Sensei, the puppy." she pointed to the tiny figure darting through the streets.

"Its okay." he took his scarf off and wrapped it around her neck.

He whistled as he did at the tea house and sure enough the little, white Shiba came back.

They cringed as the tiny pup ran into some people causing them to fall and knock a few crates and whatnot over at a couple of stalls.

"Sumimasen. Sumimasen." they bowed in apology keeping a tight grip on the Shiba Inu.

"Sensei should've chased him down." Momo picked up a few fallen daikon and put them back into a basket.

"Achoo!" she sneezed nearly dropping the radishes.

Concerned, Toshirou reached over and felt her forehead, "Momo, we're going to the hospital."

Inside he was yelling at himself for being so stupid and letting her out for this long.

She brushed his hand away with a fearful look in her eyes, "Sensei, I'm fine."

"Momo-" she backed away from him cautiously, still clutching to the puppy.

As if the gods had turned their favor on her, a huge group of housewives began storming into the store for the time sales.

Taking that chance, Momo ducked and ran in the other direction without looking back.

"Momo!" there were too many cars whizzing by on the street to cross, and the huge mass of people in front of him didn't help the situation any.

_'She's been running around the past few days, with that fever now it'll get even worst.'_

She was out of his sight now, then that girl's words echoed through his mind, "Without a doubt, will die by your hands."

* * *

"Ne, Ikeda Sensei, Hitsugaya-sensei is going to come back today right?" Isane asked with her head down on the cafeteria table.

The doctor noticed that she hadn't eaten a bite yet, "Ah. He said so yesterday, but he hung up before he told us where Momo-chan and he were. Isane, eat. You'll need the energy today."

Unohana sensei sat down next to Isane mumbling, "Can't make any use of drunks."

This morning the surgeries were all performed by Unohana, Ikeda, and Nanao sensei after the rest were still recovering from their drinking sprees.

"Lucky!" Isane cried out, happy that there was another reliable person in the workplace to take off part of the workload.

Unohana sensei nodded, "Hitsugaya sensei's surgeries are the most precise and the quickest I've seen in these past years."

Rangiku sat down next to Ikeda sensei, "Hey, hey, did you heard? There's a rumor going around that Hitsugaya sensei was demoted here after he refused a surgery at Tokyo Uni."

"Rangiku. Don't go around listening to every word of those nurses." Ikeda sensei, handed her a folder.

"What's this?" Rangiku flipped through the folder.

Ikeda sensei took the last sip of her tea, "You're a representative of this hospital for the Malpractice Case. The Press Conference today, Yama-jii already signed off on it."

"Eh?" Rangiku threw the folder down, "I was planning on going drinking tonight!"

Unohana and Isane twitched at the word "drinking" not wanting to face a crowded ER with drunken doctors floating around.

"Rangiku-san, when is the wedding?" Isane asked hoping to divert Rangiku from planning an escape like Momo.

Her eyes turned sparkly, "Next spring. Gin said we're having it in Hokkaido in an ice chapel. After the vows, we'll ski hand in hand down a hill of snow as the first act we do as a married couple."

"Ah, how romantic." Isane let out a deep sigh, "I wish I had a loving fiancee too."

Rangiku snickered, "Isane, hasn't that intern Hanataro being eyeing you lately?"

Isane shook her head in embarassment, "Rangiku-san! Its not like that."

"He's so clumsy at giving injections." Isane mimicked him aiming the needle for the patient's vein.

"At least he isn't coming in drunken being no help at all." Ikeda sensei sipped her coffee.

Rangiku nervously laughed, "About that. The surgery on next week. Ike-chan-"

"The Dors OP? What about it?" she narrowed her eyes suspicously at the strawberry blond.

"Its such a coincidence. My appointment at the beauty salon is that same day, at the same time." she stirred her cocoa awaiting the reaction of the hospital's ace.

"Rangiku, shift your appointment right now." she looked almost as scary as Unohana sensei on her bad days.

"But you know. Its kinda close and they might reschedule me months later-" Ike cut in, "Rangiku, if you aren't the scrubs nurse, the survival rate of the patient drops ten percent. Right now the survival rate for him is barely making fifty percent." with this Rangiku sighed and nodded.

Gin came around and saw the troubled expression on her face, rubbing her shoulders he asked, "Ran-chan, what's wrong?"

"My appointment got cancelled for that surgery next week." she could never say no when it came to patients.

"I wonder how Hitsugaya-sensei is doing with getting our princess back here."

* * *

Back in Hokkaido, Momo was without Toshirou wandering the streets.

She checked how much money she had with her, it wasn't much but for the time being it would do.

Pulling a piece of paper of her pocket, she read the address on it, "Its close."

The puppy was still with Momo, he snuggled against her, "Arf."

She walked down a street with a fire burning in her eyes, determined to do what she came to Hokkaido for.

Her temperature was rising a bit, she could feel it, but getting this done was more important.

She stopped in front of a nice looking house, and hesitated at the gate, "Kaa-san, I won't let you down."

Her finger reached out to press the doorbell, fear was washing over her just like it had when the news of her mother's death broke out.

"Hai?" a soft voice answered the door, soon a girl about her age opened the door.

She had pretty dark eyes, her hair was cutely confined in a braid, "Can I help you?"

"Ano." Momo didn't know what to say, she was expecting that old geezer to answer, "Does a Mayuri Kurotsuchi live here?"

_'Wrong address?'_ she wondered, to her relief the girl nodded.

"Otou-sama." she called out and soon a man with ocean colored hair, came out and said annoyed, "Who's the brat Nemu?"

She bowed, "Otou-sama, I do not know. She requested audience with you."

"Useless." he muttered, turning to Momo, "What do you and the mutt want?"

Seeing him made her blood boil, "Give it back."

"What?" he looked at her as if she had grown three heads.

"Give it back. The research you stole from my mother." she glared at him, she would've yelled at him if she weren't feeling so light-headed.

"Ah, so you're Kaga-chan's brat." he looked amused at her.

"Don't call my mother such a friendly name after you've betrayed her!" this was the man that had stolen her mother's hard work and driven her to death.

"Give her work back! Mama spend so much on that thesis. Killing her and taking her work, don't you have any shame?" the girl with the braid pointed to the phone, suggesting to call the cops.

Mayuri shook his head, "Crush Syndrome. Is what your mother died from."

"That's not true!" she protested.

He smirked, "Do you have any evidence?"

She stayed silent indicating that there was none, "Now, now if you don't have evidence don't go around with false accusations. I can very well sued you dear."

Reaching in her bag, she pulled out some papers and held them up, "Remember these?"

He quickly turned pale, "How'd you get your hands on those?"

"So you do remember the malpractice case a little while back." Momo's tone turned cold, "The one my mother and cousin covered up for you."

"Now it wouldn't look good if a professor of Hokkaido Uni. Hospital had such a scandal on his record." Momo got down to business, "Admit your faults with the thesis and give the full credit back to my mother. This won't leak out then."

His face was red with anger, her vision was blurring, was it her imagination or was that his hand reaching for her?

"Cheeky little brat!" he really was motioning his hand to slap her.

Before it impacted Momo, a hand caught it, "Long time no see Kurotsuchi sensei."

Toshirou was not in the best of mood, after running a marathon around the neighborhood, seeing Momo in danger really set him off.

"Well, well if it ain't the shorty that ran away." he mocked as Nemu stepped up, "Please unhand my father."

Toshirou let go, almost tossing the man over, "Stay away from her."

"Don't forget who it was that bumped you up to a professor." he reminded Mayuri with steely eyes.

Momo fell forward exhausted with fever, Toshirou caught her in his arms wanting to scold her badly for running off again.

Mayuri gave an amusing look, "The great Hitsugaya of Tokyo Uni. demoted to a branch hospital chasing after one meddlesome patient. What a joke."

He gave him a hard look, "Once the sun falls, it won't rise again."

Mayuri pointed to the girl in his arms, "As for her, I'll have something interesting prepared."

Before he could retort anything back, Mayuri had slink away into his house.

"Momo." he looked down at the girl in his arms, her breathing was getting heavier.

_'Got to get her out of the cold. Hospital. Which one is closest'_

The puppy whimpered, Toshirou carried Momo in his arms down the street to the bus stop.

The next one wasn't coming for another fifteen minutes, that was too long.

Toshirou set her down on the bench and took off his coat to drap around her.

Taking out his cell, he dialed for a cab, Momo slowly opened her eyes, "Sensei."

"You idiot." he looked so worried.

The cab was making it way down the streets,"Don't take me to the hospital Sensei."

"Momo, you need to go to the hospital!" the cab was getting close.

She shook as she got up, "I'm going back. To convince him to give Kaa-san back her work."

"Momo, got to the hospital. If you don't go now, you'll get worst." Toshirou grabbed her shoulder.

"If it that way, so be it. I can't back down now Sensei. He stole everything from me. Sensei, you won't understand that." tears were pouring down her cheeks.

"Let go! I won't got back to Tokyo. I won't go to a hospital." she mustered up all the strength she had to shout it out.

Coughing she sank to the ground, "Momo.." he held her close.

Th cab was almost there, the driver was driving too slow, the snow was being to pick up.

He clenched his teeth, "Fine, if you're going to be so stubborn."

"S-sensei?" her vision was too blurry.

"If you won't got back to Tokyo. Then at least stay so I can fight by your side." he whispered, "Let me protect you."

* * *

This is my longest chapter so far. How was it?

Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed it, and please review.

_- Kumachii_


	12. Chapter 12

Sometimes I feel like a full time mangaka, working on fanfiction and the comic which is still in character design mode. xD

Writing _Sunrise _is alot of fun luckily for me. The past few days I've been trying to get up earlier to watch the sun float up and dye the world with color....but my bear personality is keeping me asleep till past noon.

Here's Chapter 12! Please Read, Enjoy, and Review.

_Special Kumachii announcement:_  
Thank you to my precious reviewers for all their support. Sunrise now has 54 reviews. 54?! I almost didn't believe it, it was an omg-i-cant-believe-it-am-i-seeing-things kinda moment.  
From the bottom of my heart, thank you! I really didn't expect to topple over fifty. Love ya'll! xD

* * *

_"I just want to be close to you...."_

Something warm was clutching to her hand, it was so dark, "I can't see it."

Momo opened her eyes, it was blurry at first but then it began to clear. She lifted her right hand to feel her forehead, the fever was gone.

Looking at the blank white wall, she wondered if she were back in the hospital, "Eh?"

Taking in her surroundings, it wasn't the hospital but someone's apartment, "A guy's room?"

There was a huge window next to the bed giving her a good view of Hokkaido's snowy winter fantasy.

"Sensei?" Hitsugaya sensei was asleep at her bedside, holding on to her hand so dearly.

**Flashback-  
**_"Let go! I won't got back to Tokyo. I won't go to a hospital." she mustered up all the strength she had to shout it out._

_Coughing she sank to the ground, "Momo.." he held her close._

_Th cab was almost there, the driver was driving too slow, the snow was beginning to pick up._

_He clenched his teeth, "Fine, if you're going to be so stubborn."_

_"S-sensei?" her vision was too blurry._

_"If you won't got back to Tokyo. Then at least stay so I can fight by your side." he whispered, "Let me protect you."_

**End of Flashback-----------------------**

She blushed but Momo couldn't help but wonder if sensei would keep his word, "Sensei, you're not going to trick me like a little kid with pretty words are you?"

"Of course not." he had been awake and heard her whisper, "I'll prove it right now."

He let go of her hand and stood up, a very pissed off expression flashed across his facial features.

"You idiot!" she cringed at the increase of volume, "Do you have any idea how worried I was!? If you wanted to blackmail Kurotsuchi, do it when you're not sick! Ahou!"

"But Sensei-" Toshirou cut her off, "If I am your sensei then do as you're told! You could've died out there today. Of all the people dying out there, don't die yet if you can be saved. Its a disgrace to those people!"

She was on the verge of tears, not knowing what to say or do she looked apologetically at Toshirou.

He sighed and pulled her into an embrace, "..but...Momo...I'm glad you're safe..."

Momo was surprised but she hugged him back soaking in the warmth of his arms, "Sensei, arigato."

He reluctantly let go, "I'll get you something to eat. You've been asleep since yesterday. I was dying wondering if I should've taken you to the hospital instead."

She smiled, "I'm glad you didn't."

Relieved to see her smile, it almost made him glad he didn't hurt her checking into the nearest clinic. Almost.

Leaving her side, his mind was greatly relieved knowing she was fine.

"I'm going to get fired for this aren't I?" he went into the kitchen, sighing deeply like an old man.

Momo giggled, "Sensei. Ne, ne. If you sigh too much, your good fortune will also be sighed away."

"After meeting you, I'm beginning to wonder if I have any good fortune anymore." he picked up a pot and glanced at the contents.

"Sensei, that's mean. Of course I'm a good luck charm." Momo chirped, she sat up and scooted over to the end of the bed.

He laughed at her reply, "How so?"

"You got a break from the hospital." she pointed out brightly.

"I think I rather work. Watching you is no break." he stirred the mixture in the pot.

He poked through the murky liquid and hoped it was edible enough for Momo to eat.

Momo looked into the pot and made a face, "You're a horrible cook."

"It only looks bad. It might actually taste pretty good." he said not wanting to admit that his cooking skill was well below average in comparion to his surgical skills.

He left the pot to fend for its own while he ushered Momo to sit down at the kitchen island.

"Sensei, you live here by yourself? Its kinda spacious for one person." Momo commented taking a good look at the apartment.

It was kept well, but it lacked the coziness that a house should have.

"Yeah, I was going to sell the place when I went over to Tokyo, but I'm glad I didn't now." the liquid in the pot hissed and bubbled abnormally.

"Souka. How much is a month's rent?" Momo asked, eyeing the hissing pot that Toshirou was tending to.

"Why?" he went to the sink and filled the pot with more water, a cloud of steam was arising similar to the atomic bomb's mushroom cloud.

He was having second thoughts about feeding this to her, thinking it over he decided, _'Take out'_

"I'll feel bad mooching off of sensei." she replied and seemed to sense the same thing Toshirou thought gazing over at the pot, "Sensei, I want Katsudon."

He shook his head,"Sometimes you seem to forget you're a sick patient. No deep-fried foods."

He flipped open his cell and called a nearby family restaurant flipping through their menu for something good.

"You're serious about not going back?" Toshirou ordered and hung up.

She nodded, "It is something I want to do for Kaa-san."

"I guess I'll have to stick it out with you until the end huh? That's one way to lose your job." he drizzled soap into the pot and began scrubbing the leftovers out.

"Can't you consider the surgery though?" the gunk was stuck to the bottom of the pot.

Not wanting to deal with it anymore, he tossed it into the trash can.

Momo smiled sadly, "Gomen Sensei. Until I get Mama's thesis back, Sensei is going to have to wait to cut me up."

He placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder, "It'll be alright."

The doorbell rang, Toshirou went to answer it and came back with delicious smells wafting through the air.

"Sensei, what did you get me?" she eagerly asked, his reply sank her ship, "Congee."

"Don't make that face. Congee is good for you." he passed her the bowl of rice porridge.

She peeked at the other bag with his takeout box, "What is Sensei having?"

Those delicous smell must've came from his box because her congee barely had any good smell at all.

"Sensei, you big meanie!" she looked jealously at his food.

He had ordered the Katsudon she wanted and got her plain, tasteless porridge.

Toshirou chuckled, "I had to get revenge for the past few days somehow."

He picked up a fat, juicy piece of pork cutlet and waved it in front of her before popping it into his mouth.

"Mad?" he smirked, her angry face was quite cute too.

"Aa, open up." he held up a piece of tonkatsu for her, she blushed, "I can feed myself."

"Come on." he beckoned her, extremely red in the face, Momo leaned forward quickly grabbing it with her teeth.

The savory taste filled her mouth, she smiled at the joy of eating food that actually had a firm shape unlike the hospital food.

"Momo, don't go to Kurotsuchi's house alone again." Toshirou looked worriedly at her, "I'll go with you next time."

"Sensei." he really was going to help her.

"On one condition." he warned her.

She sat up and looked him in the eye, "The condition?"

"Right after we get the research published under your mother's name, go right into the operating room." he placed a hand over his heart, "You're not going to make it without the surgery."

"Deal." Momo grinned, "But I have a condition too."

"Oh, what condition is that?" he inquired with smile.

She emitted a warm smile of her own, with eyes casting down shyly, she voiced her selfish request, "I want Sensei to be the only one that can operate on me. Now and always."

_Doki Doki_. He felt his heart skip a beat.

She trusted him to this extent, a feeling of happiness ran through his heart, "Sensei is different from the other doctors, thats why sensei is the only one..."

Toshirou felt himself turning red, turning around he replied, "I can't always be the one by your side performing the surgery...."

Momo felt a little down by his words, "...but it if you want..."

"I'll protect you for as long as I can." he probably looked like a strawberry snowcone by then.

She blushed, bringing her hands to cover a light gasp, "S-sensei, if that a confession?"

He turned back around still a bit pink, he began, "Momo-"

A melody cut through the air, his cellphone began to viberate on the table.

_'Damn it, who is calling at a time like this?'_Toshirou grabbed it and flipped it open.

"Hello, who is it?" he almost yelled angrily to the unfortunate person on the other line.

"Hey, Toshirou. Its Otou-san. Mama and I got new cellphone numbers today so we decided to call and tell you. How is Momo-chan?" Jushiro asked, "Toshie, you forgot to call your mother when you arrived safely home the day you visited with Momo-chan. She was worried about that snowstorm."

Momo got up and began to clean up what was left of their meal, still wondering about the response Sensei didn't finish saying.

Only one thing can be said for sure, things were changing now.

Momo felt stronger then she had before knowing that Sensei was deciding to give her support, unlike the doctors before driven by their greed for Aizen's wallet.

* * *

Over at Jushiro's end, he was concerned about the strange ting to his son's voice.

He looked at his cellphone in confusion wondering if the device had gone bad, but sure enough Toshirou's voice was coming from the speaker.

Yukiko smiled at Jushiro who nodded knowingly, that was definitely the voice of one falling in love.

"Oyaji, Momo's fine. She just had a slight fever but its alright now." there, when he spoke so gently of that girl.

Next, a much more irritated voice, "Why are you and Kaa-san calling at a time like this?"

Jushiro merrily continued on, "I was just worried about Momo-chan and my favorite son. I haven't seen my daugther-in-law in the last twenty-four hours. Why of course I'll be worried."

Yukiko grinned, she could imagine her son scowling at the phone pondering over whether or hang up or not, "I'm your only son. And whose's your daugther-in-law? Its not like that."

Jushiro still keeping his light-hearted tone asked the most serious question, "Hmm, is that so? Then I wonder why my son would be with patient approaching end stage with break neck speed?"

"So you noticed." Toshirou replied in a cool tone, nothing can escape the old man's eyes.

Turning to a more serious tone, "What are you planning to do Toshirou?"

There was a short pause before he answered, "Soon. After I help her do what she wants to, I'll operate."

Yukiko took the phone from her husband, "Toshie, this is a first for you. I didn't expect you to chase after someone whose just a patient across the country." She hesitated before saying, "Is it because.....you're still bothered by that matter?"

"Kaa-san. What are you saying? Its not that. I'm not helping her because I feel obliged to." she was a bit taken back by the long sigh on the other side, "Kaa-san, to tell you the truth. I'm not sure myself why I'm doing this."

"Maybe I'm just trying to redeem myself from three years ago." he replied.

Yukiko felt a pang in her heart, "Toshie...it's not your fault. Its not. You don't have to treated yourself this way. Luri-chan, Luri-chan's operati-"

"Kaa-san. It was my fault. I was the one that killed Luri-chan." he said firmly.

"Toshirou. Stop saying that. The operation was a success. It's not your fault Toshirou. Toshie? Toshie?" Yukiko frantically looked to Jushiro.

He took the phone from her, "Toshirou?"

"Ah, sorry Oyaji. I got to go. I'll call Kaa-san another time." he hung up abruptly.

Yukiko looked to Jushiro as he flipped close the phone and shook his head, "He still hasn't put it down Yukiko."

She looked down sorrowfully, "Its all my fault. If I hadn't forced him, Toshie wouldn't be like this....and Luri-chan....Luri-chan..."

"That's enough. Yukiko, it wasn't anyone's fault." Jushiro held her close, "If Toshirou hadn't done what he had back then, Luri-chan would've definitely died before the original OP date."

"Now wipe away your tears. Its in the past now. Yukiko can be strong." she weakly smiled and straightened up.

* * *

Clack. Momo heard the phone close and turned to see Toshirou with his face buried in his hands.

Toshirou felt a gentle pair of hands rubbing his shoulders, "Sensei, are you okay? Tired?"

Momo's concerned voice reached out to him, he looked up with a gentle, yet tired smile, "Ah, I'm fine."

Momo smiled warmly back, "Thank goodness."

_Doki Doki._

He got up and led Momo to the bed, "Get some more rest. You fever just went away. You're gonna have a relapse if you don't stay in bed."

"Eh? But I-" he shook his head, "No, buts."

He went over to the couch and grabbed his coat, "I'm going out for a bit. Be back soon."

"Ah, okay." Momo watched as Toshirou exited the apartment, "Sensei is acting a bit strange after all."

Toshirou watch his breath wisp like smoke, thoughtfully walking down the snow covered street.

Cars were quickly going by, he stopped and leaned on the railing looking out at the northern sea.

"This is a first huh?" Toshirou thought out loud, the coffee in his hands was growing colder.

Looking to the left, he saw his apartment in a distance, "I wonder if Momo is sleeping?"

A mixture of confusion along with dozens of other emotions encircled him, his head bended over with a long sigh.

_'Sighing. I've been doing that alot lately...'_ he thought, then he remembered to earlier when Momo commented on his deep sighs.

No one was around to look, he turned a radiant shade of red, "She's just a patient Toshirou."

The snow was falling again, both in his heart and from the skies.

"If she's just a patient then I shouldn't care so much. There's tons of other people I can help, but....." he dwelled on the last memory of Luri.

"Luri-chan, what should I do?" he whispered softly, "If I keep helping her, I'll really fall in love..."

* * *

Thanks for reading, please review! :D

I'm ready and motivated to type out chapter 13 now. xD  
Hopefully I'll have it finished in a few days. If not, then a week at most I hope.

_- Kaori_


	13. Chapter 13

Hello, Kaori here to hand over chapter 13 to everyone! xD

Please read, enjoy, and review.

* * *

_"Luri, what should I do?"_

"Sensei, sensei!" Momo ran down the steps after him, clutching the keys to his apartment in one hand.

When she reached the ground floor, there was no one in sight but a sleeping security guard.

"Where could he have gone in ten minutes?" she looked through the huge glass windows at the surrounding area, but no snow-haired doctor was to be seen.

Momo sighed, "Mou, Sensei didn't look like that good after that call, and now he doesn't have his keys."

Flipping her cellphone opened, she punched in his number, "Hello, this is Toshirou Hitsugaya. I can't take your call at the moment, please leave a message after the tone."

After sending him a text, she stepped back into the elevator, "I wonder where he went."

_Ding._The elevator had reached her floor, Momo slid the key into the socket and the door clicked opened.

The brightness of the silvery white and coffee brown kitchen greeted her.

It was a refreshing sight compared to Tokyo in the small one windowed hospital rooms.

The sunshine streaming through the window, that stretched all across the east wall, lit the entire apartment up.

For the first time after her mother died, Momo felt like she had come home.

"Eh?" Momo chided, "Mou, this is Sensei's home. I can't believe myself."

She blushed a bright red shutting the apartment door, and hung her coat in the small closet by the entrance.

The sunlight hitting the chocolate brown tiles gleamed and made the place feel really warm.

His apartment looked so bare though, there was hardly anything in it besides the necessities.

Momo smiled and picked up a basket, "Might as well clean it up a bit since I'm freeloading."

She found a bucket and a mop in the tall kitchen cabinet, somewhere along the way the broom showed up in the spare room.

"What a waste, this entire room is only for storage." Momo said gasping, taking in the beautiful oceanic view.

Unlike the rest of the house, this room was unkept and alot dustier then the rest of the house.

She opened the closet, and an assortment of items fell out of the overfilled space.

Momo lifted the huge plush puppy off of her, it was as big as the coffee table.

Lifting it up, Momo placed it the couch, "Arf, arf."

A very familiar Shiba Inu snuggled against Momo's foot, "Suika-chan!"

He was eagerly picked up by Momo, "Where have you been? I was so worried Suika."

Suika leaped off the couch and led Momo to the laundry room where a bunch of pillows were put out as makeshift bedding.

"So this was where you have been." Momo grinned, Sensei had such an unexpectedly nice side.

Returning to the spareroom, she began to unearth a large variety of antiques.

"This is so cute." Momo picked up a delicately painted tea caddy out of a box labelled "L.K."

In another box, she found a fairytale themed tea set, and pink crystalline vase.

Momo brought all of the things outside the room, and brought the mop and rags in to wipe everything down.

Suika stayed at the doorway and watched happily as Momo made the tiles shine.

Wiping the sweat off her brow, she noticed a box atop the closet shelf forgotten, "I wonder what is in that box?"

A small grumble rang through the air, Suika looked at Momo wondering if such a sound came from her.

Momo laughed, "I wonder which one of us it came from." Opening the fridge, she discovered that it was void of anything but water and juices.

Grabbing the keys, she got her coat and bag from the closet, "Suika, I'm going to run to the market."

Bending over, she gave the puppy a hug before leaving, "Until then Suika's job is watching the house."

Suika barked and wagged its tail in response, Momo giggled, "Then I'll be back soon."

* * *

Toshirou's cellphone vibrated in his pocket, he pulled it out to see who was disturbing him, "Two missed calls. Oyaji and Momo."

Opening Momo's text, it read, "Sensei, you forgot your keys! T~T"

He checked his pockets, and realized he really did leave the house without them.

Looking back at his cellphone, it was a quarter to six, sighing he wondered, "When did I become so forgetful?"

He had been standing out in the cold for a few hours staring out at the ocean deep in thought, "Staring out at the ocean isn't going to give you any answers."

Toshirou turned around to see an old friend.

"What are you doing here Kurosaki?" he asked with a smirk.

Ichigo grinned back, "What happened to _'Its Hitsugaya sensei.'_I could ask you the same Toshirou. When did you get back to Hokkaido?"

"A few days ago." Toshirou slipped his cellphone back into his jacket pocket.

"What's troubling you now?" Ichigo leaned on the railing glancing out to the ocean Toshirou had been looking out to.

He turn around again to see the deep blue, "What makes you say that Kurosaki?"

Ichigo took a more serious tone of voice, "Because that was how you stood out here and looked when Luri-chan....."

They stayed silent taking into the oceanic view, "Is that so?"

"Toshirou, if there's anything you need help with, all you have to do is give the word." Ichigo looked worriedly at his now, not so short friend.

Toshirou grinned, "Yeah, I know. How is your family doing?"

Ichigo smiled, "Karin still is mad at you for leaving like that after what happened to Luri. My dad is the same as ever. I'm surprised the clinic hasn't broken down from his wake-up calls yet."

"Ichigo, do you think it was wrong to do that to Luri?" Toshirou asked absorbed with thoughts of the past.

"You're still bothered by that after all." Ichigo lightly punched him on the arm, "Stop beating yourself over it."

He took out his cellphone, "Yukiko-san called me a little bit ago. She said the matter about Luri was bothering you again."

"I told Kaa-san-" Toshirou looked apologetically to his friend.

"Don't worry about it. I still owe Yuki-san alot." Ichigo said sheepishly, "More importantly what you did for Luri-chan wasn't wrong."

His cellphone began to ring, "Sorry, its Rukia. I got to go."

Ichigo fumbled the vibrating phone, and began texting her back, "Toshirou, hurry up and come back to the hospital. The team isn't the same with out you."

"I'll think about it." Toshirou waved him off.

Soon after Ichigo left, he pulled his cellphone back out and wondered which call to return first.

He dialled Momo's number, but she didn't pick up, _'Did something happen at home? Maybe she fell asleep'_

Toshirou headed back for his apartment, hoping nothing had happened.

* * *

Meanwhile back in Tokyo, Director Yamamoto was silently signing off on papers.

Isane cringed when he tossed yet another paper into the overfilled trashcan and wondered to herself, _'Why me? Why did I sit next to the director of all people today?!'_

The hospital was having the bi-weekly conference to discuss certain matters and patients' treatment.

Today, the director was especially angry, Ikeda sensei cleared her throat, "Ahem, as of tomorrow, Ichimaru sensei will be in charge of my patients. Thank you for the experiences here at Junrinan Hospital."

She took a bow and seated herself while director Yamamoto stood up, "As you all know, Ikeda sensei and Unohana sensei will be returning to their respective university hospitals tomorrow. Please continue your hard work and take care of your patients now that three of Junrinan's brilliant doctors are leaving."

A murmur drifted across the room, they were silenced as Yamamoto continued, "Hitsugaya sensei called me yesterday about his resignation. Please work hard until we find replacements for them. This conference has ended."

Unohana sensei and Ikeda sensei was handing a large stack of documents to Ichimaru sensei, "Good Luck."

"Mah, you two are so cruel. Leaving just like that? " Ichimaru joked as he fumbled with the stack of papers.

Rangiku joined in, "Putting so much work on us when our wedding is so soon? How are we suppose to go on our honeymoon?"

Ikeda sensei smiled sheepishly, "Sumimasen."

Rangiku laughed, "Don't worry about, just come back for our wedding in a few months. Unohana sensei too."

"Its so strange, Ikeda sensei ans Unohana sensei have only been here for half a year, yet I feel like they've been here for years." Isane wondered if it was because everyone was off drinking and goofing off while they worked.

"Hitsugaya sensei quitted so suddenly too. I wonder why. I heard Momo got away again too." Isane sighed just as a bunch of other nurses had at the loss of another heart throb.

Ikeda sensei took off her white doctor's coat and threw it on the conference table alon with Unohana's, "I heard a family matter came up for him."

Unohana and Ikeda bowwed slightly, "Thank you for working with us."

Rangiku waved it off, "Don't be so formal, its not like you don't know us. Now hurry to the airport before you miss your flight home to Sapporo."

After the two left, the group was joined by Kyoraku and Nanao sensei, "Its lonely again. I wish the University hospitals would stop punishing good doctors by sending them to our small branch hospital. Its makes farewells bittersweet."

"Hey, hey, did you find out why they got sent here?" Rangiku asked Kyoraku, "You usually know being the head here after all."

"I thought Yama-jii was in charge?" Kyoraku joked before taking a more sober look, "I heard."

A group of interns, and nurses gathered round, "I heard...."

"Yes?" the group leaned in closer, "I heard....that......"

"Yes?!" Kyoraku chuckled, "I heard, there were only ten Katsucurry bowls left in the cafeteria today."

"Eh?" disappointed, the group dissipated. Nanao looked a bit irritated, "I wish you'll concentrate on being a responsible doctor as much as Rangiku and you concentrate on the gossip."

He put his hands over his heart, "Ouch, a hit."

Rangiku complained, "If you know something, spill it."

He chuckled at their looks, "Fine, fine. I'm not allowed to freely say such things but I can assure you that the past can prove to be very dark."

Turning to leave, "Rangiku, the three came from the same University Hospital you did. If I were you, I wouldn't be so nosy. Yama-jii is already mad that the paperwork is coming in late along with three of his best doctors leaving."

* * *

Momo gently pushed the shopping cart down the aisle, savoring the feeling of going to a supermarket.

Gazing over at the fish and meat, she wondered what to get for dinner that night, "I wonder, does Sensei like beef or chicken better?"

Seeing an employee put out some fresh salmon, she navigated the cart over to the fish fillets, "Maybe Sensei like fish better?"

She sighed, "Now that I think about, I don't know much about Sensei at all. His favorite food, color, I know nothing at all."

"I should get food for Suika first." Momo steered towards the pets aisle, putting their dinner off until later.

"Uwah! There's so many brands and flavors for pets now." Momo looked down the aisle in amazement.

Truth be told, this was actually Momo's second time in a supermarket, being the ojou-sama of an famous international company and having an illness doesn't let you out as much as you would want.

"Would Suika like the beef or chicken one? The ones here are on sale." Momo strolled down the aisle, "Its only 1650 yen each?! I can buy alot for Suika then."

[1650 yen is approx. $16.50 in USD]

Momo grabbed a few cans of the two flavors and put them neatly into the cart along with a bunch of other treats.

After coming out from that aisle, Momo was once again stuck with her previous problem, "What am I going to get for dinner?"

Aimlessly wandering the food aisles, she gazed over the huge variety of foods wondering which would be best.

A store employee nervously came up to her, "Um, excuse me Miss. Can I help you with anything? You've been pacing this aisle for the past forty-five minutes."

"Eh?" Momo bowed in apology, "Sumimasen, I was wondering what to get for dinner tonight and lost myself."

She blushed a little red, "I'm sorry."

The guy blushed at her cute expression, feeling a bit sorry for her, "Our store has recipe cards by the deli section. Perhaps you can close your eyes and select one of them for tonight. Its getting late."

Pointing to his wristwatch, Momo gasped, "Its seven already? I have to get home soon."

She rolled the cart towards the deli section, she turned around and shouted "Thank you."

* * *

Meanwhile, Toshirou arrived to the front door of his apartment realizing he couldn't get in because he had no key.

"Shouldn't have left the spare at Kaa-san's house." he said in regret, knocking on the door, "Momo, Momo. Its Sensei. Open the door."

There was no response, he was really hoping nothing had happened, brushing the thoughts of an unconscious Momo again; he knocked again.

"Momo?" his neighbor opened their door, "Oh, its Hitsugaya sensei. I thought you were in Tokyo?"

"Abarai." Toshirou sighed in relief, "Did you see or hear anything from my place?"

Renji thought and seemed to recall something from earlier that day, "Now that I think about it. I think I saw a girl talking to your puppy about shopping for food or something."

Toshirou punched the down arrow for the elevator, "Thanks Abarai."

"Who is that girl anyways? Your girlfriend?" Renji smirked leaning against his door, "More importantly, come back to the hospital soon. Ichigo is slowing the team down."

Ding. The elevator had arrived, he replied with an unsure expression "I'll think about it Renji."

Ichigo stepped out the elevator with a smirk, "Hey Renji, whose slowing who down?"

"Seeya Toshirou." he nodded, and the elevator doors closed. Ichigo handed Renji a folder, "Here's the stuff you wanted. You sure about this? Forming a new team for this?"

Renji took the papers and flipped through them, "Yeah, I'm sure. Unohana sensei is coming back soon, so that fills in a spot for clinician."

"Renji, you still have our team." Ichigo peeked into Renji's apartment to find it messy as usual.

"Ah, I know, but I'm forming this team to beat Kuchiki sensei's team." Renji opened the manila folder for more data.

"Hey, you aren't doing this to win his approval for my Rukia are you?" Ichigo jokingly said, feinting anger.

"Of course not you idiot." Renji jabbed him in the shoulder with the folder's corner, "Our team is best for in our own department."

"How come we always end up talking outside your apartment?" Ichigo grinned at Renji's annoyed yet amused expression, "Renji, if you hadn't pissed Kenpachi off, you'll still be in our department."

"Don't you have a date to go to Strawberry?" Ichigo looked at his cellphone, and made the "oh crap, I'm late!" expression.

Jabbing the down arrow on the elevator for him, Renji asked a bit concerned, "Hey, Ichigo do you know the girl that was with Hitsugaya sensei today?"

"No, something the matter?" Ichigo began texting an apology to Rukia.

Renji looked at the direction of Toshirou's apartment, "I just thought there was something strange about her."

The elevator arrived, "Hurry up Ichigo. Rukia's gonna throw a fit if you're anymore late."

Renji smirked as Ichigo lightly punched him back, turning around her went back into his mess of an apartment.

Pouring himself another cup of coffee, he looked back to one patient chart on his table labelled "Yuushirou Mayamato"

The key to defeating Byakuya Kuchiki, the only surgeon he ever looked up to.

* * *

That is all for chapter 13 at the moment.

I'm going on vacation in two weeks, then school starts so updates are going to start slowing down quickly.  
I'll try to have chapter 14 done before I go, but I can't promise anything at the moment. xD

Thanks for reading, please review! Thanks for everyone's support! :D

_- Kaori_


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